Biographical History

Bishop William J. Walls, African American churchman and author,
graduated from Livingstone College and
Hood Seminary. He did graduate work
at Columbia University, and received
an advanced degree from the University
of Chicago.

Walls was an active member of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, originally
formed in 1796 in New York City in response to discrimination against blacks in the
regular Methodist Church. Walls' home congregation was Thomas Memorial AME Zion
in Watertown, New York, long known as an anti-slavery church; notable members included
Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Katherine Harris,Jermaine Loguen, and Frederick Douglass.

Among his other duties, Walls served as senior bishop
and secretary of the Board of Bishops and as chairman of the Board of
Christian Education, Home and Church, and participated in Christian
Education conventions on the
denominational, national, international,
and world levels. He was a member of
the Central Committee of the World
Council of Churches, the executive
committee of the World Council
of Methodism, and the General Assembly
and General Board of the
National Council of the Churches of
Christ, and was the ecumenical
spokesman for Zion Methodism.

In addition to his church activities, Wall was active in the National Association
for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), serving
on the Board of Directors and as vice
president. He also found time to write, producing a biography of Joseph
Charles Price, founder and first president of Livingstone College, and a definitive
history of AME Zion entitled
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: Reality of the Black Church (1974).

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The
William J. Walls Papers consists of correspondence-subject files and two later additions which have not been
integrated.
Correspondence-subject files are subdivided chronologically.
1981 additions consists of books, correspondence, clippings, personal memorabilia (will, etc) and
writings, as well as more than fifty years of the Official Journals of the Zion Church.
1983 additions consists of a single typescript for
Prophets of Freedom by Bishop W.J. Walls.

Arrangement of the Collection

Files are arranged chronologically and within that alphabetically (with some aberrations).
Note that box numbers are not unique; please specify accession and box number when
requesting items.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require
advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance
concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and
all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from
any
materials in this collection.